Question

Having read about psychology's entrepreneurs and the marketing of industrial psychology, post a considered opinion of why psychology's testing technology was widely accepted but scientific management was widely criticized. What differences existed between the two that resulted in their having different experiences? What was it about the zeitgeist of the times that resulted in these outcomes? If both were introduced (as brand new) to society tomorrow, would the outcomes be any different? How would they be accepted if they were introduced tomorrow?

Answer 1

Psychological Testing is a systematic sample of behaviour of an individual on a given performance whereas Scientific Management emphasizes on labour productivity and improving economic efficiency. In psychological Testing, the data is obtained through different methods and measures after carefully analyzing different factors which can have an effect on the subject. Scientific Management,on the other hand, is a theory that mostly stresses on efficiency and ouput in an industrial setup.

The reason why psychological testing is widely accepted, and scientific management widely criticized is because Psychological Testing are mostly accurate, efficient and thorough in the findings. Scientific Management is criticized because of its over-emphasis on output and efficiency. Taylor’s Scientific Management did not consider the health, prestige, ego, safety and total personality of the workers. Whereas Psychological Testing Techniques take all of this into consideration.

During those times when Frederick Taylor introduced Scientific Management, the philosophy of those times was such that human beings did not work with rational minds. Taylor himself was an industrial engineer who was interested in practical outcomes rather than understanding the psychology of workers or human mind at work. Hence his approach was incomplete or half-hazard.

If both the concepts were to be introduced tomorrow, I personally do not think that the outcomes would be any different because there has been a lot many changes in human facets if we compare conditions of those times with the current. Today, human beings are lot more dynamic and complex then the earlier times. Hence Scientific Management needs to go through radical changes to be accepted fully worldwide. This is because we cannot analyze things without taking or considering Human factors. Psychological Testing will continue to gain its popularity because here analysis are systematic, accurate and efficient as one of the vital aspects of study is the changing human factors. Methods and measures are taken through collection, integration, and interpretation of information of the individual.